Set Me As A Seal Upon Thine Heart
by Tarma Hartley
Summary: Alternate Universe. Awakening early one morning, Detective Jowd reflects on how lucky he is to have Inspector Cabanela both in his life and by his side. CabanOwd, Teen


_A/N: Inspector Cabanela and Detective Jowd do not belong to me; they belong to CAPCOM. The plot, however, is mine.  
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_Waking early one morning, Jowd looks at the sleeping man next to him and realizes just_ how_ lucky he is to have _Inspector Cabanela at his side and in his life...  
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My first ever CabanOwd fic and the first story I've written for quite some time! It's nice to finally have something done for the first time in many months!

I wrote this fic in one day which came as quite a surprise to me, to say the least. I've never written **ANY** fic so quickly before but I was quite inspired by the fic that Midnight-hunter had written for me for my birthday entitled, The Art of Remembering. I also have to thank her for the game Ghost Trick that she gave me as a birthday gift as well; I've played it through six times since I got it and I really **LOVE** it! Thanks! :D  
>The title comes from a verse in the Bible from Song of Songs, chapter 8, verse 6 in the King James version. It's a very beautiful line!<p>

This silly, mushy little fic is set in an Alternate Universe. I can definitely see Cabanela as being a bit of a renegade; he does things_ his_ way and, despite his rather interesting methods, there's no question that he's _very_ good at what he does. I can see him as a bit of a loose cannon with Jowd being his exact polar opposite which is what makes them so much fun! :^)

I hope that you enjoy this fic of mine! I came up with CabanOwd since, as far as I know, there isn't an official designation for them, and I like it. :^) I will continue to use it in future. :)_  
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__**Thank you **__to all my readers: those who have commented, read, reviewed, favourited/story alerted my stories and thanks also to those who have author alerted/favourite authored, as well! I appreciate it very much! I am glad that you are enjoying my stories and I hope that you will continue to enjoy them in the future! :)

__**Thank you**__ to Midnight-hunter for her wonderful beta reading! Thanks bunches!

_**Special thanks** _to my beloved husband, DezoPenguin, for all his encouragement, love, concern and for reigniting the fire within me to write! Love you, honey, and thanks!

As always, reviews, comments and suggestions are welcomed and appreciated! I aim to improve my writing and comments do help me to do just that: by letting me know what you like, what you don't and what needs improvement. :^)

Rated Teen, male/male relationships, AU, CabanOwd  
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I woke early that chilly Saturday October morning, much earlier than I normally did. It was still dark when I awoke, my eyelids fluttering as I stirred, shaking the cobwebs of sleep from my brain while I blinked a few times in order to clear my eyes, my mouth stretching into a smile as I greeted the new day.

My eyes flickered over to the recumbent figure of my lover who lay beside me, his chocolate brown hair with its prominent grey streak spread out over the crisp whiteness of the pillow case, putting it into stark relief as the sun began to slowly rise over the horizon, rays of watery light coming through the frosted window glass.

I could see the stitched quilt, pulled up to his chin, rising and falling with every breath he took and I couldn't help but to admire, though rather sleepily, the slim line of his body that had such feline grace and elegance.

My eyes traveled down the length of his mostly covered form, lying so still with just the soft sound of his breathing, and the rising and falling of the quilt, to let me know that he was indeed a living being and not a statue.

_He's perfect,_ I thought to myself, a wide grin spreading over my face as I saw him stir slightly before settling down once again into sound sleep and burrowing further underneath the quilt, _and I am lucky, indeed, to have him._

I couldn't help but to think back to our early days at the Academy and I managed to stifle a loud chuckle that threatened to burst from my lips; for one thing, I didn't want to awaken him after the rough two weeks he'd been having at work and, secondly, I was content just to lie there and look at him as he slept.

_I could lie here forever and just watch him and be very content, and happy, to do so. _I slowly lowered my head until I could feel it touch the pillow, my eyes never once leaving him as I did so, my thick blond hair crackling against the crisp pillowcase. _I wonder how long he'll sleep in this morning. He certainly could use it since he's been working so hard._

I was startled to feel him stirring again and I froze in place, my breath catching in my throat. I held my breath for a few moments until all movement ceased and his breathing told me that he was once again deep in sleep.

I slowly let out the breath I had been holding, the air sighing softly as it escaped my pursed lips. I loved rising in the early morning and watching him as he slept, an overwhelming feeling of love washing over me as I did so. Cabanela made my heart sing and the happiness that he brought into my life was immeasurable.

I suppressed a chuckle as I lay my head on the pillow, half-slitted, dreamy eyes firmly fixed on the sleeping man next to me. _If anyone who knew us in our Academy days _ever _found out that we'd gotten together, they would think that we'd lost our minds! What a pair we were then...  
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We'd been at loggerheads more than once at the Police Academy and, as I think back on those rather crazy, though halcyon, days, I'm still surprised that either of us even became police officers! We'd originally been put together since the powers that be-the Sergeant-figured that we'd be a good match; besides, Cabanela was driving him crazy with his antics and he probably thought that he would dump him on me since I was so stolid and thorough.

To be honest, I really wasn't thrilled with having him as my roommate-he seemed much too flighty to me and irresponsible-and his antics, at times, really did get on my nerves. It was, I think, his intention to try to curb Cabanela's rambunctiousness by pairing him with his _exact_ opposite-me-in both temperament and personality and it must have come as quite a shock to him when, not only did Cabanela retain his blithe spirit, he became even _more_ reckless.

To the Sergeant's surprise and, I'm sure, disgust, my presence seemed to do nothing to encourage him to behave; in fact, the exact _opposite_ happened and I was the one who'd had to bear the brunt of the Sergeant's displeasure whenever Cabanela acted up which was pretty much an every day occurrence from the first moment that he walked into the Academy.

I still, to this day, don't know _how_ he managed to pull _that _particular feat off. He'd gotten himself into some pretty deep scrapes in those early days of police training that would have normally ended up with the rookie in question being asked to leave but he always seemed to skirt by, sometimes just by the skin of his teeth, and avoided being dismissed in disgrace. I had to admire him for that since he stayed true to himself although I think that he secretly enjoyed nettling the Sergeant whenever, and however, he could.

Privately, I was glad that he hadn't been dismissed; I had begun to like my rambunctious roommate and, despite my earlier misgivings, I soon learned that he was as dedicated and passionate about police work as I was and just as thorough in his own way.

Faint stirrings from beside me brought me back to the wonderful present and I grinned as I watched him. I waited for a few more moments until he dropped off back to sleep, though not as easily as he had previously. Which meant that he was getting close to waking for the day.

I watched him in silence for a little while, basking in his presence before returning, once again, to those wonderful moments in the past. I'd lost count of _how_ many times I'd come in with him on the brink of taking a swing at one or the other of the rookies and I knew that this kind of behavior would more than likely get him thrown out. Despite my rather conflicted feelings about him at that point, I didn't want him to go-a feeling which really surprised me-so I would merely walk over to him, grab him and, without a word being spoken, hoist him up, and threw him over my shoulder which did the trick of ending the confrontation but usually did nothing to mollify my enraged confederate.

As I was definitely the bigger and stronger of the two of us, it really wasn't too hard to do and I would walk away with Cabanela protesting his displeasure at the top of his lungs, his arms and legs flailing around like out of control windmills, his voice echoing throughout the building as I marched down the corridor of the Rookie's Quarters. I've often wondered, in the years since, if the rookies at the Academy ever talk about this big, two-headed monstrosity that they frequently heard, or occasionally saw, lumbering down the corridor.

I couldn't suppress a chuckle at those memories. The Sergeant was almost at his wit's end with the two of us in _general_, and with Cabanela in _particular, _and I was sure that he would have loved nothing more than to toss the two of us out in the Main Quad with all of our possessions, and suitcases, being flung out after us and hopefully hitting us in the process. What saved us, and enabled us to graduate with top honors in the end, was the fact that we worked together quite well as a team and that Cabanela, despite his seemingly flightiness, was just as dedicated, and ambitious, as I when it came to detection. He would not rest until he ferreted out the truth and kept at it until the very end.

_I think we impressed the Commandant to quite a high degree or we wouldn't have made it to Graduation Day. _I looked at the prone form beside me again, closing my eyes and smiling. _We certainly got ourselves into quite a bit of trouble but there was no one that I would rather have gotten into things with than you. _I chuckled softly._ You had me by the heart from the very beginning and, although it did take awhile for me to recognize it, you were always there, being yourself and loving me. I really am lucky... and I know it._

I slowly cracked an eye open when I felt him stir again and was startled, at least at first, when I came face to face with a pair of wide open chocolate-brown eyes, the skin at the corners of his eyes crinkled with good humor, looking languidly at me.

I blushed slightly with embarrassment, feeling like an errant schoolboy as I drowned in those deep, penetrating eyes. I lost track of time as I stared into those beautiful, mesmerizing orbs and started a bit as I felt him move closer to me, burrowing into my arms, his head lying on my right upper arm.

"Mooorning, baby," Cabanela drawled lazily as he nuzzled the side of my neck and I felt my arms tighten around him, pulling him even closer to me. "Yooou're up early this morning." He was silent for a few moments before flicking an eye in the direction of clock radio whose numbers glowed a bright green in the semi-darkness of the bedroom. "It's only six-thirty and yooou're not usually up until at least seven." He pulled back slightly until I was looking at him. "What's the occasion?"

"You," I said, my face turning red while he watched me with undisguised amusement, "I was watching you while you slept..."

He chuckled softly, a rich, throaty sound as his lips skipped over my skin with light, teasing nips. I felt a surge of pleasure flow through me as he did so, a soft moan escaping my lips.

"I liiike that," he breathed, leaning forward and pressing himself tightly against me, his eyes locked firmly onto my own. My lips parted slightly, my eyes glazed with desire as he slowly lowered his mouth down to mine, whispering tenderly, "I love you, Jowd," before his mouth captured mine in a searing kiss that left me a trembling, breathless and aroused putty in his hands that he took, and happily so, full advantage of.

"I... love you, too, Cabanela," I managed to stammer before I lost myself in his embrace, closing my eyes and giving myself up to the sensations. Some time later, after our passionate explorations had left us sweaty, tired and sated, our arms wrapped tightly around each other, I again reflected about how lucky I was to have this wonderful, though boisterous and thoroughly unconventional man, in my life.

_Set me as a seal upon thine heart..._ it says in the Song of Songs, I reflected drowsily and, in his own way, Cabanela had done _just_ that; he was mine, I was his and we were happy together. We would walk together, hand in hand, down the road of life and meeting all of life's challenges head on as they came, knowing that we could count on each other to be there, always supporting, always loving.

_Set me as a seal upon thine heart..._

I held Cabanela closer, my lips curving into a smile_. You are mine and I am yours. Forever. _

That was my final thought before both of us drifted softly into sleep, clasped tightly in each others arms.


End file.
